That Special Day
by Taranea
Summary: June 23rd. Know what that day means? Well, neither does Sonic, but he s about to find out as he runs into his most dangerous robot double when hiking all alone...
1. Chapter 1

The trees were rushing past him and Sonic revelled in the feeling of pure bliss that enveloped him whenever he was engaging in his favourite past-time;

Chess-playing.

_What the…?! _ Sonic nearly rammed a tree at this random thought and only evaded it by narrowly spin-dashing past it, sending various squirrels fleeing for their lives.

What an odd thought. Where had it come from? Sonic shook his head slightly, trying to regain his concentration and that light-headed running sensation he loved so much. The forest opened and he dashed across a clearing, grass blades moving in his wake like waves behind a racing boat.

This was not the first time this had happened to him today. He was oddly distracted and there was something that kept nagging at him, trying to remind his speed-crazed brain of something important…

He saw a stream up ahead and sped up, the moss underneath his feet now flying in all directions. Laughing with delight, Sonic took a running leap and crossed over the liquid, landing smoothly on a small, grey stepping stone on the other side, then continued without breaking stride deeper into the forest, whooping as his legs carried him ever faster.

---

When he had left, the stepping stone slowly extracted himself from the mud on the river bank and looked gloomily at the remains of his small camping fire that the oblivious hedgehog had just trampled into kingdom come. It stared after the Blue Blur and his happy trail of destruction.

"Why does everybody hate me so much?" Omochao asked in a desolate sort of voice.

Just then, a random duck hunter thought he had heard something and took aim.

---

Sonic, meanwhile, was bouncing off tree trunks and getting slightly woozy from the spinning and adrenaline combined. He stopped, trying to get a grip on himself as he leaned against a lichen-covered stone.

A date…that important something was a date and it should be around now…but what had that date been about? And when was it exactly?

He shrugged, and continued running, jumping on a wet branch where he planned to practice his grinding skills.

Truth to tell, Sonic didn´t even know what day _today_ was. He had been out in the wilderness for quite a while now, sleeping in caves or in trees at night and running from dawn till dusk. He was by no means forced to do that but enjoyed it rather a lot. Every once in a while, he would start feeling smothered in Station Square so the hedgehog just went high-speed trekking for a week or so if he felt like it. Eventually, lack of food (no berries or feral fish could substitute Chili Dogs!) would drive him home again, but until then, the world was his to explore and nothing would bring him back to civilization before that.

Naturally, his friends stayed at home; Tails rather tinkering with his machines ("Look, Sonic, I made _another_ plane that will crash eventually!"), Knuckles of course still guarding that hunk-a-rock of his, and Shadow being too busy angsting on stereotypical high buildings to enjoy something as trivial as _company. _Eww.

Damned Eww, if you were Shadow.

Sonic smiled as he thought of them, leaning his body over the left side to avoid hitting a bird´s nest and relished the feel of warped gravity at such high speed while marvelling at his own reactions.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Sonic ground to a halt, then hopped down lightly and landed on the forest floor nearly without a sound. His ears flicked in all directions as his gaze was trying to penetrate the thick green foliage on either side.

He was no longer alone.

But even with his listening strained, he could not make out a single sound other than the usual nature background noises. Slowly, he shifted his weight from one foot to another, turning in a semi-circle, taking in everything he could, yet discovering nothing.  
Constant fighting over the years had provided him with very healthy survival instincts and thus he was fairly sure that there was someone here besides him, someone who was keeping themselves hidden. He could sense it.

As several moments passed without anything happening, Sonic wasn´t so sure anymore. Perhaps he was just imagining things? Maybe it was only because he was too wound up, even if Robotnik in truth had been fairly quiet over the last few weeks.  
He shrugged, then took off at top speed. Intruder or not, he´d feel a lot safer when the wall of sound had shattered and there were a few miles between him and the mysterious stranger. After all, nobody could keep up with him at _this_ pace, right?

Even in months to come, Sonic would know better than to ask this question in fanfictions.

As the distance he had covered began to grow, the feeling of danger gradually lessened. The hedgehog idly wished his friends were with him now nevertheless. His thoughts drifted back towards the time he had said goodbye a few days ago…

---

"Sonic! Where are you going?!" Tails had stood in the doorway of his house at the Mystic Ruins and looked quite surprised to see his friend heading out towards the tree line where the wilderness would start.

"Hey, Tails!" he had called back, "Just out for one or two weeks, I´m gonna go explore some more of those red mountains. Try not to let Eggman conquer the world while I´m away, okay?" He had winked and prepared to dash off again when the little fox had interrupted him.

"But…no! You can´t!"

Sonic frowned. "Why?"

The kitsune was now shifting distinctly uneasily. "Because…because…you really have no clue?"

His blue friend just stared at him, tapping with one foot as he received no direct answer.

"No, Tails, I don´t. And I´d really like to get going now, so…"

"Please, Sonic, don´t! It´s because we…"

"Look, li´ll buddy, I´m sure it can wait, right? After all it can´t be that important or else I´d know it. So, catch you in two weeks!" And with a flash of azure he was gone, leaving a rather annoyed-looking fox cub behind. He really didn´t like shrugging his friends off like that but once Tails started prattling on about something or other you could start to grow mushrooms out of your ears without noticing it. Better to cut him short before he started.

Oddly enough, with Amy it had been the same. Of course, the pink hedgehog was _never_ fond of letting him go, but this time she, too, had tried to hold him back and tell him something. Which fortunately was quite hard to do when the object of your attention was already a hundred yards away and still accelerating. (And he had to, since on that day he had actually said he´d take her out to Twinkle Park...) Well, maybe he would just apologize to them later.

Knuckles had been a _teensy_ bit more upset…

"You _promised_ you would help me clean up the mess you and Robotnik wreaked upon my island! I only helped you fight him because you did!"

"Yeah, but look, Knucklehead, we can do this later, right? I mean, I feel like going on a hike and when my feet itch to run, I run. Simple as that."

"Considering that your feet almost always seem to do that, I´d rather think you have some kind of fungus. Now get your blue butt up here and help out!"

"No way, Knux, sorry."

"_You cheating, arrogant_…" the echidna then had seemed to remember something and continued in a slightly less angry voice: "Hey, and what about this weekend?"

"What´s the matter with this weekend?"

"Well, Tails and us were naturally sorta planning to…"

"Sorry, the connection is suddenly incredibly bad. Call you back when I find the time, okay? You can start the cleaning without me, how about that?"

Sonic had hurriedly hung up, leaving a stuttering, incandescent echidna on the other line. Not the nicest tactic, but Sonic _hated_ cleaning work. And even if he had promised anything, he could still do that when he got back, right?

---

He stopped once again, wondering suddenly whether their behaviour might have any connection to the 'important date' that just wouldn´t leave him alone.

And then it him.

'It' being unfortunately a projectile.

He yelled in surprise and pain as something smashed into his side and knocked him to the ground. Instictively he curled and leaped to his feet a few yards away, facing the direction of the…what had it actually been that hit him?

His ribs were still intact although it hurt quite a lot. Why would anybody use non-lethal ammunition when trying to fight against him?

All his wonderings were cut short, however, as he finally saw a pair of eyes shining among the leaves. Neon-red and they did _not_ belong to Shadow.

"M-metal…?"

The robot stepped into full view. "Priority hedgehog confirmed. Commence combat."

"Oh, sh…"

Sonic barely dodged the next attack. Metal Sonic had come blasting at him, blazing claws slashing at his throat. He threw himself backwards to avoid the swipe and rolled out of harm´s way. Getting up, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, all thoughts of dates now driven from his mind.

"Never giving up, do ya, Mecha? Here we go!"

He tried a simple spin attack and was satisfied with the robot´s reaction who managed to avoid him by a quick jump. There was no fun in fighting if your enemy wasn´t at least nearly on par with you.

Keyword: nearly.

Sonic didn´t really feel threatened. Metal Sonic had never defeated him and never would; a match here in the outback just meant some brief entertainment for him and then a long-distance call to the scrap metal collectors. He laughed and they charged at each other, quills as hard as diamond meeting reinforced steel spikes in mid-air, both bouncing off the other harmlessly and regaining their footing in mere seconds.

The two hedgehogs circled their respective opponent, Metal occasionally shooting another one of these weird projectiles at him which Sonic evaded effortlessly. Neither one of them seemed to have the upper hand for now.

Someone in the woods sighed. This was all taking too long.

Mecha tried to tackle the blue hedgehog and was rewarded with a kick to the back – it dislodged parts of his CPU and he became dizzy, although the cry of pain from the blasted rodent upon receiving an electric shock from Metal Sonic´s hull was worth it.  
Still, time to bring this battle to a close. Robotnik had told him not to use his full arsenal but now Metal was going for the kill. Poisonous darts slowly slipped out of his wrists, ready to be shot…

Too late. In the split second that the robot had not been paying attention, Sonic had charged forward at an incredible speed. The blue ball tore through Mecha´s metal leg, audibly cracking it and sending his double crashing down, involuntarily kneeling in the moss and snarling.

Emerald eyes glittered in triumph.

The unseen presence in the woods, however, slapped his forehead and growled. A Chaos Emerald was produced. Now listen closely, and you might even be able to hear two very  
well-known words…

---

The explosion took Sonic off his feet.

He screamed in surprise and was abruptly cut short as the collison with a tree knocked the wind out of his lungs. Going limp, he flopped down in a quilly mess at the base of the trunk, feeling as if someone had just taken his spine, wrung it out, hung it on the washing line and then run a cement mixer over the whole thing.

_Where the hell has that blast come from?!_

His robotic rival had fared far better – already having been on the ground, Metal Sonic had merely rolled over a few times and now got staggering to his feet. Letting his rocket booster do the work instead of his injured leg, he slowly hovered over towards a still prostrate Sonic who was desperately trying to ignore the burning pain in his back muscles and raise himself.

"Still as cocky, hedgehog?"

Clinging to the tree, Sonic had nearly managed to work himself up to a standing position, although his legs were still shaking like puppies out of the bathtub. Metal Sonic was almost on him, his red eyes flaring menacingly, fully aware of his weakness. He really was in trouble now.

"Say your final prayers, my loathsome copy…"

Sonic was still too shocked to believe any of this. Should he really die here, in this remote wilderness, without ever seeing his friends again?! He tried to scramble away from the robot but just fell to the ground again as soon as the support of the tree left him. That explosion had turned his muscles into water…he stared helplessly at Mecha from his sitting position as his metallic double loomed over him.

_I´m sorry, guys…for leaving you like this…_

A steel-plated hand rose over his head and Sonic shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the lethal slash.

* * *

**Okay, so raise your hands who knows what that mysterious date could be. **

**This fic is becoming quite a weird mix...never wrote something like that before. Please let me know what you think:)**

**Also, all praise for this story goes not to me, but to Shads, a friend of mine...who is unfortunately too lazy to create their _own_ profile here. I merely helped writing this down and getting it done in English. Hope you liked it.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

But instead of metal blades penetrating his skin, he felt…

…a slap.

Metal Sonic had slapped him squarely across the face.

Sonic´s head snapped to the side and his eyes opened wide in astonishment as he turned back towards his enemy. The robot, if possible, was scowling.

"Idiot biological hedgehog. Idiot mission objective."

"What…?"

Before the biological hedgehog could utter another word, though, Mecha reached down and rammed something into his side. Sonic yelped at the sharp sting. This was…!

_A sedative,_ he realized as everything went black. The last thing he felt was being hoisted into the air by Metal and the rocket blaster carrying both of them away.

---

Sonic woke up, astonishingly, in a prison cell, a comfy metal cube without furnishings or windows whatsoever, cheerfully lit by a glaring neon light.

Now he was completely confused. The sedative had worn off and his head felt suprisingly clear. Just how long had he been out? And what on earth was going on? Metal Sonic had not killed him…was he meant for the roboticizer? He shivered at the thought although he was not able to fathom why he was not a mindless slave already if that was the Doctor´s aim.

Sonic then tried to move his feet and was greeted by the clinking of chains.

_Just great,_ he thought and conveniently discovered that he apparently wore handcuffs as well.

Jeez, Eggman was sure being thorough this time. The only thing missing was a friggin…

He reached up to his neck and groaned. Friggin metal collar. Check.

The chains allowed for some freedom to move, though. He stood up and tested his legs. At least he was no longer a walking jelly. But to spindash would mean to choke himself…he yanked the chain frustratedly and tried to think of something else.

_The date_. It was today.

Sonic slapped his forehead. How could he still be thinking of that stupid thing?! That was what had got him into all this trouble the first time around, being distracted.

But it was an important occasion…and he got the vague feeling that it was important for his friends, too…  
but just as he thought he had almost figured it out, a voice blaring over the loudspeaker embedded in the ceiling interrupted all thought processes.

"Well, my dear Sonic, awake yet? Enjoying the hospitality, are we?"

The hedgehog had to bite back a snarl. Even Amy in his face when he woke up was a better alternative than _this._

"What do you want, Eggman? What´d you capture me for?" He snapped, adding silently: _And how did you manage the explosion?_

"There´s no need to be so hostile, rodent. I merely desired your company. Or, to be more precise," he continued as if he had heard Sonic´s snort at that declaration, "I have a few…clients who asked for your company, too, Sonic. Especially _today."_

Sonic´s jaw nearly hit the floor. What was wrong with the world?! Everybody was acting insanely out-of-character and it seemed as if his memory was even worse than Shadow´s. (and that was saying a lot, considering that the ebony emo was probably the only one who could confuse pleas to make the world a happier place with the request for the utter anniliation of the human race – Heck, Shads would probably also manage to bring home weapons of mass destruction when you asked him to pick up some milk.)

Seriously though, how could even _Eggman_ know something he desperately tried to remember?

The hedgehog strained against the chains binding him as he tried to bellow into the microphone implemented in the wall.

"Stop the riddles already! What´s your game this time, you whacko?"

"Really, Sonic, one would think that in your particular situation one would be a trifle bit more polite towards his host. It seems as if I have no option left but to send you the room service…" he started laughing maniacally but was suddenly cut short and mumbled something along the lines of "Alright, alright. You never let mad brilliant scientists have any fun, do you?" and with a final static crackle, the speaker went off.

Sonic had the feeling that those last lines had not been aimed at him.

He stood there for a while, his chains, ears and quills equally drooping as his head seemed to go into overload from all the inexplicable things that had happened to him over the past few hours. Could this all be a dream?

Slowly, his hand went to his side and he winced. No, the spot where Metal Sonic had injected him with that stuff was still sore. So, no dream.

His ears twitched as he heard the sound of metal clanging from the corridor. Immediately, a shiver ran down his spine and the hedgehog felt his innards squirm while he had the urge to curl up. Oddball behaviour or not – he was trapped in his archenemy´s fortress and was practically defenceless!

Sonic´s quills bristled in fear and he backed against the wall as far as his shackles would let him. Unfortunately, since his collar and footcuffs were connected to opposing boundaries of his cell, this didn´t mean much.

The robotic footsteps came closer and he tried to at least force his features into a defiant expression. He had no idea whether Eggman would try to torture, roboticize, or kill him but there was no way he´d let the Doctor see him break.

Maybe his friends would rescue him. _Even if I behaved pretty much like a complete, self-centred idiot towards them…_

He hung his head briefly but raised it again as soon as the door opened and two Egg Pawns entered. No Metal Sonic?

The robots ambled speedily over to the locks of the chains, opened them and took the ends in their claws. Sonic knew that know was his chance. He leaped, intending to curl over in midair and homing-attack the Egg Pawn left from him to pieces.

He had not planned for the one behind him to yank the shackles on his legs, though.

His jump brutally interrupted, the hedgehog landed on his behind and cursed his bound feet. He _hated_ being cooped up! Even cleaning the blasted island with Knuckles would have been better than this…

Another vicious tug, this time on his collar, brought him back on his feet, yelping.

He rubbed his sore throat as best as he could and shot both robots a glare.

"That´s the best you can do, Eggman? Harrassing harmless hedgehogs when they´re helpless?" he called, angrily facing the speaker, fully knowing that the doctor could probably see him.

"You surprise me, Sonic. Trying to fight with alliterations, now?"

As Sonic only looked at him with blazing eyes, the doctor sighed. "Very well. I have means here to force your jaws apart, hedgehog." He then seemed turn away from the microphone as the next part was slightly muffled, but Sonic´s acute hearing, now also overly sensitive from fear, picked out the words nevertheless. "Will you _please_ tell her to stop squealing? I think by now we _all_ know that he _'looks SO cute when he´s angry_.'…"

The hedgehog´s eyes opened wide at that nonsensical statement and he strained to hear more. Robotnik unfortunately seemed to have realized that the system was still on and just barked one irritated last command at his robots before shutting it off.

"Bring the rodent here, you useless trash. And there´s no need to be gentle."

"No, wait, what…"

A painful tear at the chain connected to his collar shut him up immediately. The Doctor´s metal slaves seemed to get down to business now. Sonic was taken by surprise and tumbled down as his feet were tugged from underneath him. He was now lying on his back, frantically trying to scramble into at least a sitting position before he even realized what was going on. One Pawn held the shackle that trapped his legs up high so that there was no way he could upright himself, while the other one still held his ensnared wrists. The first one took the chain from the second one in the same hand and extended his telescopic arm, effectively dangling Sonic from his four limbs in midair, his back and head swinging a few feet above the floor.

The hedgehog struggled at this indignity, feeling like an absurd trophy prize. A cold hand reached into his quills and he felt the chain disconnect from the metal ring around his neck as the two robots started walking and left the cell with him. Sonic squirmed as soon as they had left the confinement room, but although his hands were now held beside his ankles, there was now way he could open the locks that still trapped his feet.

Suffice to say, the two Egg pawns carried an extremely annoyed hedgehog trophy prize through the fortress.

"Eggman! You´ll pay for this!"

Sonic was red in the face from both fury and embarrassment. The torture that the doctor had hinted at still lingered in his mind, though, and he caught himself swallowing at the thought what would await him when they finally reached their destination.

What if…Robotnik would do something to his legs? The hero instantly stiffened, his hands grabbing around his calves as he imagined maybe never being able to run again.

Cursing his overactive imagination, Sonic shook his head and tried to regain his calm. He would never give the human the satisfaction of begging for mercy. Whatever that madman could throw at him, Sonic would take it without losing his nerves.

The robots turned a corner, stopped briefly before a hissing hydraulic door, entered a massive hall of sorts and Sonic´s resolve lasted about two seconds.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE _YOU_ DOING HERE?!"

He had craned his neck back to sneak a glance at Eggman who would surely be somewhere in here, but what he had _not_ expected to see was Amy standing right next to him. And Tails. And Knuckles. And a grinning Shadow. And Rouge, Cream, Vanilla, Metal Sonic and Omega.

"Hey Sonic, long time no see!"

At the same instant, the robots released him and he plummeted down to earth, eliciting a few chuckles from the others. Dumbfounded, he sat up and for the first time took in everything around him. The usually bleak metallic surroundings were cheerfully decorated. Bright balloons and streamers hung under the ceiling and fought a fierce battle against the mirror balls for dominance. At the right side was apparently a grand table upon which stood…the biggest cake Sonic had ever seen.

_Robotnik__ must have finally snapped. _

_Or I ran through a wormhole. This is actually an alternate reality. _

_Or maybe those berries I ate yesterday were the kind that you _shouldn_´_t_ eat. For obvious reasons. Or maybe…maybe…_

His brain ran out of ideas at this moment and he just stared.

"Uhm…has…uhm, Eggman captured you guys, too?" the hero finally asked and felt utterly ridiculous. After all, _he_ was the one handcuffed while they were apparently completely unrestricted.

"Oh, Sonic! Of course not!" squealed a delighted Amy, who could not contain herself any longer and rushed up to hug a still stunned Sonic, dragging him to his feet and crushing his ribs. "Awww! You looked so _cute_ in that cell! And you can´t even run away now…" she giggled, trailing her fingers playfully along his shackles and grinning.

Sonic was already making preparations for a full-fledged panic attack as Knuckles intervened.

"Oh, come on, Amy, cut that guy some slack!" he called, adding "Not that he doesn´t deserve every single thing he´s been going through, mind you…" with a mischievious glint in his eye.

"Uh-huh!" Tails chirped in, but sidled over to the pair nevertheless to hug Sonic as well. "Glad to have you back, big bro."

"You have recovered remarkably soon, Faker. We nearly weren´t ready when you woke up."

"Ready…?" Sonic looked from one face to another. The colourful decorations. The Chaos Emerald in Shadow´s hand. The way too happy Eggman in the background.

"…I think I´m going to hate you for this..."

"But Mr. Sonic! Wasn´t playing tag with Mr. Metal _fun?_" Cream had opened her mouth for the first time and regarded him with a wide, sincere smile.

Sonic closed his eyes and reminded himself that six-year olds were not to be mauled under any circumstances.

"Yes…Cream, it was. Never felt so entertained in my entire life. Maybe I should let myself get abducted more often."

"I´m glad you liked it! We had so much fun thinking up the plan! And Mr. Robotnik helped us, he was really nice!" The mentioned scientist gave a small wave.

Rouge was able to pick up even the subtlest mood swings.

"Uh, guys, maybe you should think about pinning down those chains of his again…"

"He did _what?!" _

"Well, you brought it upon yourself, you know?" Knuckles stepped in front of the hedgehog before Sonic could even work up a temper.

"…I did?"

"Sure. After all, how on mobius can you go hiking when you know full well that you´re going to miss out on one big event…and ruin the party for the rest of us."

"Huh?" the hero scratched the back of his head, completely lost.

"Sonic, you moron!" Rouge interrupted, "Today is…"

As if they had practiced it, everybody joined in: "Your _Birthday!_ Congratulations!"

Sonic could have slapped himself. Or maybe just ask Metal Sonic again to do that for him.

"My…" _How could I have forgotten?! Today´s June 23__rd!_

"You´re sixteen, now! Only two years away from legal marriage!"

He groaned. "Amy…"

"Happy birthday, Mr.Sonic!" Cream shook his hand happily and he was only then reminded of the fact that he still wore his chains.

"Uh...do you think you could take those off, now?"

"Why, Sonic, sure. Sometimes all it takes is asking nicely." Robotnik pressed a button on a remote and the rings around his ankles and wrist immediately opened and fell down. Relieved, if disbelieving, Sonic stepped out of his former bonds as he noticed something.

"Hey! I want that collar off, too!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Can´t help you there."

"What do you mean, you…"

"Oh, Sonic, that´s my present! Isn´t it beautiful?!" Amy raised a small mirror and Sonic was able to see it for the first time. A thin, pale oval gold ring, winding around his neck like a small snake with a tiny green, unpolished emerald shard embedded in the front. Amy had bought _jewellery_ for him! He felt himself blush for the second time that day.

"Uh…Amy, where´s the lock?"

"I don´t know! Ask Shadow how he gets his rings off."

Sonic turned around with a questioning glance and looked at the black hedgehog.

"Simple," replied the Ultimate Lifeform, "I don´t."

Sonic shot a despairing look at Amy. "Uh, I hadn´t thought of that before…" she giggled.

_What have I done to deserve this?_

"Uhm, anyway, it´s pretty so you won´t need to take it off, ever, right?"

_Whatever it was, I´m already sorry for it!_

"…right. So, how come I am spending my birthday in one of my friendly archenemy´s bases, then?"

"Well, we figured you´d need a lesson in staying in touch with and listening to your friends." Knuckles started.

"And we weren´t sure how to actually _catch _you either." continued Rouge, "so…"

"…when I asked them to work together on this occasion, they all agreed." finished Robotnik himself.

"What?! You trusted _him_ in a scheme to catch _me?!_ Maybe this is a paralell universe after all…"

"Shadow assured us that Robotnik wasn´t trying to screw us over this time."

"And then Shadow and the Doctor wanted to celebrate my birthday with me?"

_Yup. Definitive paralell universe. Bizarro, anyone? _

The human gave the hedgehog an angelic smile. Sonic felt sick.

"Let´s just say I had a…change of heart, Sonic. Just for today, mind you. Tomorrow I will hunt you down again mercilessly."

"Thanks?"

"Metal Sonic and Shadow went out to retrieve you. They made a formidable team and had a lot of fun, isn´t that right, Mecha?" The scientist gave his robot a friendly slap on the back.

"If you weren´t my creator, I´d take your arm off right now."

"Ever the cheerful one! The new A.I. I gave him is working out brilliantly…although I wonder who could be having such a sarcastic influence on him…"

Shadow pretended not to notice the stares. Metal Sonic muttered something about being a killer machine and not a delivery boy.

"Wait a moment, the explosion was _you!"_

The black hedgehog gave a malicious grin and tossed the Emerald once more. "Indeed. 'Chaos Blast' mean anything to you?"

"…I won´t even answer that."

Sonic sighed. "So, you let me be kicked, punched, blasted into trees, sedated, imprisoned, (and no, that´s _not _just my daily routine, Shads, thank you so much for asking), and chained up, just so you could show me that I should care more about what you have to say?"

"That´s right." Smiling.

"...I think that´s the most awesome birthday I ever had."

"It hasn´t even started, Sonic!"

At that point, the console behind them burst into life and started playing a rock version of 'Happy Birthday'.

"Care to cut the cake, faker?"

The party was the most enjoyable birthday Sonic could remember so far.

The food was delicious, (even if none of the ohters would try the Chili Dogs for some reason), the music just asking to dance (and everybody was glad that Robotnik didn´t) and everyone was generally having a blast ("Say, Sonic…why is Shadow dancing on the table?"), the latter one probably being due to the massive amounts alcohol someone had poured into the bowle.

Amy was giggling helplessly and clinging to Sonic. The hedgehog knew this was all Rouge´s fault (who was now able to very effectively seduce a drunken echidna) but since he had downed a fair share as well, didn´t even care.

At least Cream was already sleeping soundly.

"Sonic, I never told you, but you´re actually very dear to me…"

"Uh, tha-that´s very nice, Robuh…Robo…Roboman…and maybe Metal is my brother! Hey, Metal!"

"Orders forbid me to shred you today, even though you are completely defenceless. My only wish now is to jump into a car compressor."

And then, Tails figured out how to rewire Mecha into a karaoke machine.

---

Later:

"_Sweet, sweet, you're so sweet_

_There's no where to hide_

_Sweet, sweet, you're so sweet_

_Come on, settle our lives…"_

"Ivo, come on down there, we wanna sing, too!"

-

Tails was next. He chose his song and started the music – only wobbling slightly when doing so and grabbing the mic on the second try.

"_Born to be wi-hi-hi-hild…" _

Rouge later nearly fainted upon Knuckles growling during "Pretty Woman" and everyone cheered at Shadow´s rendition of "Killing me Softly". (Especially Vanilla who had to sit down). Sonic gave an equally worthwhile performance with a song he had chosen for himself…

"_You can bugger the bear, if you do it with care,_

_In the winter, when he is asleep in his lair,_

_Though I would not advise it in spring or in fall--_

_But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all!_

_If you're feeling quite coarse, you can bugger the horse,_

_Or the palfrey, the jennet, the stallion (with force)..."_

…and this time it was Shadow who had to lie down.

-

Rouge killed everybody with her act –

_"Oh, the night is my world - city lights  
painted girls. . . .  
I live among the creatures of the night..."_

- and mostly the Guardian with her hip swings.

-

Amy and Vanilla soon had the two up and running again when R-E-S-P-E-C-T thundered through the base, though.

As fatigue slowly started to cloud their minds in the end, "House of the Rising Sun" was the last song to be played, sung in horribly off-key unison but with much enthusiasm.

Metal Sonic afterwards was last seen trying to commit suicide in a blender.

Finally, they left – Shadow, now declaring his never-dying love for Sonic, Tails and a random paper bag that happened to be lying around, helped them with Chaos Control (and promptly dumped them in the lake next to Tails´ workshop. It´s hard to manipulate the fabric of the space-time continuum when you already have trouble not walking into trees.).

Alone in his fortress, Robotnik reclined in his chair again, feeling at peace for the night. (Only occasionally disturbed by various agonized screams from Metal who was trying to repair himself).

True, he had wasted a perfectly good chance to finish the pesky hedgehog off once and for all. And all he had gotten in exchange was a party. A party on June 23rd.

Now why would he have wanted that?

"Say, Sonic…" he muttered in the darkness,

"…have you ever wondered whether there weren´t _two_ people celebrating their birthdays today?"

* * *

**Finished! Meant as a birthday special and will be probably taken down later, when everything´s over again - or left online, if someone wants it here. Applause for Shad´s first story, please. **

**Dedicated to the Blue Blur himself and meant as honest thanks for the 16 years of entertainment he´s brought us so far. Happy Birthday, Sonic:) **


End file.
